Parshas Kedoshim
“You may not keep the wages of the work of a hired worker with you overnight until the morning.” (Vayikra 19:13)
It is a negative commandment that one must not delay paying the wages of a hired worker, as it says “You may not keep the wages of the work of a hired worker with you overnight until the morning.” This verse discusses a man hired for the daytime, and the Torah lengthened the permitted time for payment through the night, as it says “until the morning”. As regards a man hired for the nighttime, we learn elsewhere that the time allotted for payment is the whole day, as it says “You must give his wages on that day, and the sun must not set on it”. The rule is that a daytime worker can claim during the whole night, and a nighttime worker can claim during the whole day.
Part of the roots of this commandment is that Hashem wants the people which He created to stay alive, and it is obvious that delays in having food will destroy the body. Because of this, He commanded us to pay the wages of a hired worker at the correct time, for he is waiting for these wages in order to maintain himself. It would appear that the reason that the allotted time is one day is because it is normal for a person to occasionally fast for a day. The Torah tells us explicitly the reason for this commandment, as it says “and to it (the wages) he raises his soul”.
One of the laws of this commandment is that this commandment applies both to hired workers and to hired objects such as tools or land. In all of the above cases there is a commandment to pay the rent on that day. If one delays the payment, one transgresses the prohibition of “do not leave overnight”. Chazal said further that one transgresses the above prohibition only if the worker asks for his money and he did not pay.
This commandment applies in all places and at all times. One who transgresses it and withholds the wages of a hired worker until after the allotted time, has contravened this positive commandment and has also transgressed the prohibition.
